An icy start to the heated Galway v Tipp rivalry

A championship rivalry that reads eight-seven in Galway’s favour since 1987, it will likely be as close on Saturday.

1987: Nicky English of Tipperary in action against Conor Hayes of Galway during the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final match between Tipperary and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

“Nothing was intense as it was against Galway” – Babs Keating.

Just as they are born, rivalries have to be conceived. Galway and Tipperary’s ferocious five-year friction may have started in 1987 but the genesis was eight years earlier when Babs Keating was Galway skills coach.